Issn Print: 1742-8009

Publication Date: 2004/03/01


Print

Early data offer promise for management of high-risk melanoma

Rabiya S Tuma

    loading  Checking for direct PDF access through Ovid

Excerpt

Two studies for the treatment of high-risk melanoma patients were presented at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium in New York in November. There were early results from a Phase III study comparing the combination of antisense BCL-2 and dacarbazine with dacarbazine alone, and an interim analysis of a Phase II study of granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) as an adjuvant chemotherapy.
Phase I and II data showed promising results with antisense BCL-2, (officially called oblimersen sodium), in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. BCL-2, a strong inhibitor of apoptosis, is overexpressed in a number of tumours, including melanoma.
The rationale behind a combination therapy is that the oblimersen shuts off BCL-2 expression and enables the cancer cells to undergo apoptosis when exposed to a DNA-damaging agent, such as dacarbazine, explained Dr Anna Pavlick, assistant professor of medicine at New York University School of Medicine, who presented the results of a multi-centre study.
Following the promising early trials, a large randomised controlled trial was initiated to compare the efficacy of oblimersen plus dacarbazine with dacarbazine alone, in patients with metastatic melanoma.

Related Topics

    loading  Loading Related Articles